Dishwashing machine



Oct. 26, 1959 P. R. MILROY L DISHWASHING MACHINE Filed Aug. 28, 1957 2 Shets-Sheet 1 l i I Fla INVENTORS. PHILIP R. MILROY l WILLIAM F. von' :rn.

THEIR ATTORNEY Oct. 20, 1959 P. R. MIILROY ETAL DISHWASHING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 28, 1957 INVENTORS.

PHILIP MILROV WILLIAM F. van J'R.

THEIR ATTORNY Maw" United States Patent DISHWASHING MACHINE Philip R, Milroy and William F. Voit, Jr., Louisville, Ky., .nssignors to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application August .28, 1957, Serial No. 680,696

' :3 Claims. Cl. 134-114 This invention relates to automatic dishwashing machines, and more particularly to water inlet and air venting arrangements for such machines.

' Dishwashers of the type to which this invention relates include an enclosed washing compartment into which a plurality of changes of water are periodicaly admitted, circulated and then discharged, the dishes thus being subjected to a series of separate washing and rinsing operations. Such machines are generally equipped with a water inlet control device such as a solenoid valve, water,

circulating means such as a rotary impeller, drain control means such as a drain pump arranged to operate at the end of each washing and rinsing operation and a sequence timer associated with the aforementioned. elements so as to control their energization periods. Also, in order to facilitate drying of the dishes, it'has been found desirable to provide a heater for heating the air in the washing compartment and an air Venting system so arranged that hot air may be circulated within the compartment and vented therefrom after the completion of the washing and rinsing operations. However, presently known dishwashers including these features have the disadvantage that water vapor and noise generated within the Washing compartment pass through the vent system during the washing and rinsing operations, and also, in some machines vapor and noise may escape through the vacuum breaker customarily incorporated in the water inlet system.

Accordingly, a principal object of our invention is to provide a dishwasher including a washing compartment provided with a water inlet and air vent arrangement which overcomes the above mentioned disadvantages.

Another object of this invention is to provide a dishwasher incl-uding a washing compartment having a common opening for the water inlet and .air vent systems, and means for sealing the opening during washing oper ations. I

Still another object of this invention is to provide a water inlet and air vent arrangement for dishwashers in which .a layer of water closing the vent and water inlet apertures is automatically maintained whenever Water is being. circulated within the washing compartment.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds, and the features of novelty which characterize the invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification. Briefly stated, in accordance with one aspect of our invention we provide a dishwasher comprising a tub having means for circulating water thereinand a water inlet opening defined by a downwardly projecting flange,

Y upwardly above the level of the lower edge of the flange,

whereby the inlet opening remains sealed by 23. layer :of water constantly replenished by water circulated in (the tub and the inlet opening also provides an airvent upon completion of washing operations.

For va better understanding :of our invention reference may be made to the accompanying drawings which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation view, with some of the parts broken away, of a dishwasher embodying our invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view takenon the line 2-2 :in Fig. 1. p 1

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view, in perspective, of the water inlet and air venting structure :of the dishwasher shown in Fig. 1. t i

Fig; 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4-4 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 isya sectional view taken-along the line 5-5 in Fig; 4. r a

While our invention may be utilized in Various types of dishwashers, there is shown-in the drawings a presently preferred embodiment incorporated ina dishwasher of.- the ty-pe having a sliding. tub arranged to be mounted under a counter top or the like. Referring to Fig. "1., the numeral 1 designates a cabinet having a top wall 2, side walls 3 and 4, and a rectangular opening in the front thereof forming a supporting frame for a movable tub. Slidably mounted within cabinet 1 for movement between a position within the cabinet and a position withdrawn from the cabinet is an open top tub, generally designated by the numeral 5, having a front wall 6, a generally conical bottom wall 7 and .a peripheral top flange 8 provided with a sealing gasket 9. A front panel 10 is suitably secured to front wall -6 of tub 5 andis provided with a trim frame 11 which is preferably shaped so as to form a handle or gripping surface to facilitate withdrawal of the tub from the cabinet. Tub Sis sup. ported within cabinet 1 by of a sliding rail ararnge ment which for example, may include :a plurality of. rollers 12 mounted on side walls?) and 4 (only the rollers mounted on wall 4 being shown in the drawing) which cooperate with an extension slide 13 supported on tub 5 by means of a plurality of rollers 14 rotatably mounted on the side walls of the tub.

Located within tub 5 are racks 15 and 16 arranged to lated over the dishes during'the drying cycle. Impeller.

17 is mounted on the shaft of an electric 1110101'19}. which may also be utilized to operate the impeller'ofa drain pump housed within pump housing 20. Dish-V washer 1 also includes a waterinlet system comprising a solenoid valve 21 connected to a suitable Water inlet pipe (not shown) and also connected to a water discharge conduit :22 having an end or nozzle portion 23 arranged to discharge water into tub 5. I In a complete washing cycle, it willibe' understo'od that solenoid valve 21 and motor ,19 are energized and de=energized in a predetermined sequenceypref'erably'byf may include two preliminary rinsing operations, a Washing operation and three final rinsing operations, for example, during each of which water is admitted to tub 5 through inlet conduit 22, circulated by impeller 17, and finally discharged from the tub. It will also be understood that a quantity of detergent may be automatically deposited in the tub by suitable means (not shown) at the beginning of the washing operation. After the washing and rinsingsteps 'have been completed, it is desirable that the dishes be dried as rapidly as possible, and accordingly heater 18 is provided to heat the air in the tub, the heated moisture laden air being vented from the tub by means of an air venting system forming a part of the present invention.

- Mounted in the upper portion of cabinet 1 is a horizontally disposed top wall or cover 24 arranged to engage the. top periphery of tub 5 so as to provide an enclosed washing compartment. Cover'24 is mounted for limited vertical movement from the open position shown in Fig. 1 to the closed position shown in Fig. 5 by suitable means (not shown). One movable cover arrangement which may be utilized is disclosed in McNairy Patent 2,661,750, assigned to the assignee of the present application. However, it will be understood that other cover mounting arrangements providing means formanuallyactuating the cover from open to closed position may be employed.

Mounted along the front portion of cover 24 is the combined water inlet and air venting arrangement of the present invention. As previously described, water is admitted to tub 5 through the open end portion 23 ofinlet conduit 22, the open end of the conduit overlyingan elongated water inlet opening in cover 24 adjacent: the front edge thereof. The water inlet opening is defined by a downwardly projecting flange 25 below which is mounted an elongated water retaining pan 26 supported on cover 24 by brackets 27 and 28 riveted or otherwise fixedly secured to cover 24. Retaining pan 26 is provided with one or more drain apertures 29 in thelowermost portion thereof and side walls 30 and 31 extending upwardly above the level of the lower edge of flange 25 but spaced from cover 24 so as to form a gap through which water and air may pass. PreferablyQdrain aperture 29, or one of them if a plurality of apertures are utilized, is positioned directly below open end 23 of conduit 22 so that water discharging from the conduit will be directed on the aperture so as to-keep it free from obstruction by food particles and the like. Also, it is desirable that the stream of water from conduit 22 be directed along the bottom of pan 26 so as to flush out any food particles deposited therein, and therefore nozzle 23 is inclined toward the midportion of pan 26, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

Formed in the front wall of cabinet 1 along the top portion thereof is an air vent opening which is preferably covered by a decorative and protective grille 33. Inorder to channel the flow of air from the opening in cover 24 defined by flange 25 to air vent opening 32, a pair of chambers each enclosed by a top wall 34, a rear wall 35 and side walls 36 and 37 are provided. These walls are fixedly secured to cover 24 so as to move therewith and define air passageways through which air may pass from the interior of tub 5 out through air vents 32 as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 5.

Referring now to the mode of operation of the present invention, it will be evident that as water is admitted to tub 5 through conduit 22 a layer of water will be retained'in pan 26, the level of which will be above the lower edge of flange 25 inasmuch as the total area of drain apertures 29 is quite small in relation to the open end 23 of the conduit and also in relation to the gaps between the side walls of pan 26 and the lower surface of cover 24. Hence water flowing into pan 26 will overflow side walls 30 and 31 as it passes into the tub. Ordinarily, water is admitted to the tub through conduit 22 during only the initial portion of each washing and rinsing operation. However, during each washing or rinsing operation water is circulated throughout tub 5 by impeller 17, and consequently the layer of water in pan 26 is constantly replenished since a spray of water will enter the pan through the openings between the bottom surface of cover 24- and the top edges of wall 30 and 31. The size of apertures 29 is proportioned so that the rate at which water drains from pan 26 is much less than the rate at which sprays of water enter the pan, and hence duringfilling and washing or rinsing operations, a layer of water seals the opening defined by flange 25 and prevents the passage of both sound waves and water vapor out through air vent 32.

At the end of .a complete washing operation,-all of the water retained in pan 26 drains therefrom through apertures 29, preferably at a rate suflicient to empty the pan during the interval the drain pump is energized. Thus very shortly after the drying cycle begins the opening defined by flange 25 may function as an air vent communicating with air vent opening 32 in the front wall of the cabinet, Thus it will be evident that the combined water inlet and air venting system described above performs the functions of admittting water to the tub while preventing passage of noise and water vapor therefrom, and also provides an air vent through which moisture laden air may escape during drying operations.

' While we have illustrated and described a specific embodiment of our invent-ion, we do notdesire the invention to be limited to the particular construction disclosed, and' we intend by the appended claims to cover all modifications' within the true spirit and scope of our invention.

What is claimed is: 1. A dishwasher comprising a plurality of tub walls including a top wall defining an enclosed washing compartment, said top wall having an opening therein 'defined and surrounded by a downwardly extending flange,

a water inlet conduit arranged to discharge water into said compartment through said opening, means for continuously circulating a spray of water throughout said compartment during each washing operation, means for draining said compartment, 2. Water retaining pan within said'compartment located below said opening, said pan having an aperture in the lowermost portion thereof, and a continuous side wall on said pan generally parallel to but spaced from and surrounding said flange, said side wall of said pan extending upwardly above the level of the lower edge of said flange but terminating short of the tub wall overlying said pan.

2. A dishwasher comprising a supporting frame, a tub supported on said frame, said tub having a top access opening, a horizontally disposed cover for said top opening supported on said frame for movement between open and closed positions, said cover having an opening therein defined and surrounded by a downwardly extending flange, a water inlet conduit arranged to discharge water into said tub through said opening, means for continuously circulating a spray of water throughout said tub during each washing operation, means for draining said tub, a water retaining pan located below said opening and supported on said cover, said pan having a drain aperture in the lowermost portion thereof, and a continuous side wall on said pan generally parallel to but spaced from and surrounding said flange, said side wall of said pan extending upwardly above the level of the lower edge of said flange but terminating short of said cover.

3. A dishwasher comprising a cabinet having a. [front opening, an open top tub slidably mounted within said cabinet for movement between a position within said cabinet and a position at least partially outside said cabinet, said cabinet including a front wall above the path of movement of said tub provided with an air vent, a'

horizontally disposed cover carried in the upper portion of said cabinet for movement into sealing engagement with the top edges of said tub, said cover having an elongated opening therein adjacent the front edge thereof, said opening being defined and surrounded by a downwardly extending flange, means defining an air passage between said vent and said opening, a water inlet conduit having a discharge end arranged to discharge water into said tub through said opening, means for continuously circulating a spray of water throughout said tub during each washing operation, means for draining said compartment, an elongated water retaining pan located below said opening and supported on said cover, said to but spaced from and surrounding said flange, said side wall of said pan extending upwardly above the level of the lower edge or said flange but terminating short of said cover.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Jewell Oct. 16, 1928 Raczynski July 23, 1957 

